Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it's important for the Minister to speak to the police, but I think that in this matter I think he has a lot more to learn and I'd like to suggest to him, I'd like to ask him if he would meet with the judiciary and talk with them about what it means, or academia, or read on some stuff about

what the impact will be and not just go by his own opinion about what should be at the NWT table and not. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not clear as to what the question is. Will I read the media opinions on both sides of this issue? Sure. I have and will continue to do so. But, Mr. Speaker, again let me reiterate, since the Members are interested in my opinion, clearly, because this is a federal matter, I don't think there's been a significant change. Do I think it's a good idea to have the police have some voice because of their involvement in the judicial system? Yes, I do. Do I think there's been a vast departure from the way past governments operated the process? No, I don't. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, as to the exact date that we sent the legislative proposal to the standing committee, where it currently sits, I can't give you that exact date. It is a matter of record and it is in correspondence to the committee. But I can tell you for certain why, Mr. Speaker. It was a huge public concern around the state of our communities, and the safety of our communities, and the need to improve safety for our residents. Obviously we recognize the RCMP we think are doing a very good job, but we believe, in our experience and from watching what's gone on in other jurisdictions like Saskatchewan and Manitoba and now Yukon, that a tool like safer communities legislation can be a very effective tool in helping us deal with bootlegging operations, drug dealing operations, and seek to put them out of business. So that's the why, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm just wondering, if we move forward with this proposed paper, consultation paper on SCAN, I'm just wondering when that will happen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, the legislative proposal sits before the Standing Committee on Social Programs. They had asked me to come in and respond to some questions that had arisen. I have done that. There are still some bits of information that we have promised to provide committee. I will do that before the end of this week. Then, Mr. Speaker, it's really a matter of committee coming back to me and saying we're interested in taking this bill out on the road and seeing what people think. We await the introduction of first reading of the bill. I'd be prepared to do that in the March session and that would allow committee to go on the road and hear from residents and understand better what they think of this legislation. So I'm ready for a March 1st reading, Mr. Speaker. It's just a matter of the Social Programs committee coming back to me and giving me the okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Louis Riel believed in a cause with so much passion that he wasn't concerned about his future, but the future of the Metis. He was fighting for their rights. We're fighting for a different kind of right here, Mr. Speaker. We're fighting for the right of the future of the Northwest Territories to benefit. Prime Minister Harper said it himself hundreds of times: we should be the primary beneficiaries of our natural resources, and we're not. The Premier mentioned that he is having a meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday, and enough is enough is another term that I heard from the Premier. Would he relay that message on to the Prime Minister that enough is enough and don't just talk about what we should have? He's in a position to give us what he knows we deserve. Would he relay that message on to the Prime Minister? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that very direct answer. That's the kind of attitude that we should have with Ottawa: direct, to the point, and leave the...Would the Premier commit to bring in a contingent of aboriginal leaders to Ottawa to negotiate directly with the Prime Minister? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I will raise this issue. It's at the top of my list for discussion with the Prime

Minister on Friday. Mr. Speaker, the lead Minister on this issue is Minister Prentice. I have already suggested to Minister Prentice that we have a joint meeting between myself and representative aboriginal leaders to deal with the issue of a devolution AIP at the minimum. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another meeting; we've been having meetings for 20 years. We all know what these meetings are about. They know what we want. We know what we want. It confuses me as to Ottawa's reluctance to give us what they know we deserve. I'm getting to my question. I'd like to ask the Premier if he would commit to expediting the negotiations on the political level and try and have something agreed to very soon? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I've said in this House before, we are in the middle of negotiations. The federal negotiator is meeting with ours. The next meeting I believe is, in fact, I know it is next week. It's tough. The federal negotiator, of course, is looking after federal interests; our negotiators are looking after our interests. There are outstanding issues they have to resolve. It's not going to be easy. I can tell you we are focused on achieving what we want, an agreement-in-principle, but at the same time we are not going to accept a bad deal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.